The southern state of Kerala has one of the richest and most distinctive cultures in the whole of the subcontinent. You will find dramatic hills and sweeping valleys in the plantation areas, flat waterlogged plains riddled with canals and paddy fields in the Kuttanad backwaters, and long white sand beaches by the Arabian Sea. Elephants and tigers roam in the forested national parks of Thekkady and Wayanad, whilst Kerala’s colonial past is reflected in Fort Cochin. The summer monsoon season promotes the practice of ayurveda, and there is hardly a better place in India to indulge in an ayurvedic massage or to practice meditation and yoga.
Kerala is often envisaged in colours of green and gold: the lush greenery created by the climate, and the gold of the prosperity arising from fertile lands and produce of aromatic spices. For centuries Kerala has been a magnet for traders from all over the world and the various colonial occupations made Kerala a melting point for different cultures, merging to give the state an extraordinary character of its own.
Kerala is probably one of the most vibrantly religious places on earth, with its history of the earliest Christianity in India to its vivid Hindu festivals. Many of these festivals involve Kerala’s famous ritual theatre which plays out ancient legends, bringing the realm of the gods to earth via the performers’ painted faces and astonishing costumes. Kerala has its own forms of dance, such as kathakali and the martial art of kalarippayattu; the most atmospheric of performances has to be theyyattam where the performers are thought to be possessed by the spirits they represent in a ceremony lasting throughout the night. These festivals wouldn’t be the same without their celebration of Keralan food, such as the vegetarian Satya feast on a banana leaf at the harvest festival of Onnam, rich with coconut, accompanied by rice and followed by the traditional desert of payasam.
All year round, from the monsoon snakeboat races in the backwaters to the winter utsavam festivals with their flamboyant temple-elephant processions, Kerela is a place of celebration, variety and beauty. Its cobalt blue skies, verdant greenery and wealth of tradition have made it aptly dubbed “God’s Own Country”.